Organization, planning, time management continue to turn up in the latest research on preparing students for college. It is also part of the Life & Career skills listed in the 21st Century Learning Skills framework http://is.gd/J3qC .

It goes beyond college prep. For many kids, just graduating with the skills necessary to be successful in a vocation is a mountain to climb. For these kids, making it to the next year can seems impossible.

I’d add one more to the list. Study Skills.

Teach a student how to study…teach them how to LEARN new information as early as you can and keep teaching them…over and over…systematically and repeatedly and then watch them take wings and fly. Give them a fish…feed them for a day, teach them to fish, feed them for a life time.

We are overlooking this most fundamental aspect of learning. A student has to know their learning style and then how to deploy study strategies that use study tactics that work for them. This takes time and practice. We have to start them early, preferably in 5th grade and continue until they graduate.